Remember
by seagulls n soap
Summary: He woke up in a bed and didn't remember anything except for a grey eyed girl. But in this new world or horrors, he and three others are forced on a journey that will decide the fate of all demigods: good or evil, powerful or weak, roman or greek.
1. Prologue

**New Stoy! Yeah! **

**So . . . I'll update every weekend . . . **

**if this does really bad I'll stop writing it**

**and I hope you guys enjoy!**

**read and review!**

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><p><em>"Though miles may lie between us, we are never far apart, for our friendship doesn't count miles, it's measured by the heart."<em>

He opened his eyes and was engulfed with darkness. Slowly, his eyes adjusted to the dark and he realized that he was lying on the bottom bunk of a bunk bed. Above him, someone was snoring, a light, gentle sound. His mind told him to run . . . but to where?

He sat up on his bed and thought. He remembered . . . . Something. It felt like something was out of place, but he couldn't put his finger on it. It was on the tip of his tongue, so close, yet so far. He thought back, but couldn't remember anything. Nothing. It was all black, like it had been pushed out of his mind and thrown away. _Impossible, _his mind thought. He brought his hands up to his head. _Something's out of place. _

Suddenly, he heard something move, but it was only the person on the top bunk. He or she rolled over and then mumbled something in their sleep. All was quiet again. The strange boy stood up and walked around.

He walked around the small room, which was barley big enough to fit two bunk beds. There was a small bathroom and another room filled swords and clothes.

As he stepped into the bathroom and saw his reflection in the mirror, he was surprised not to find some monster staring at him. Black hair, green eyes, some muscle if you look hard enough . . . . No hideous tail and scales. Who was he? He couldn't remember.

The boy laid down on his bed and closed his eyes. Soon he was asleep.

In his dreams he saw a girl. She had bright, blood red hair that was clipped back. All around her was black, except for an occasional glimpse of light that could have been a firefly. She kept repeating the same thing over and over . . . something about seven and half-bloods and falling. Yes, he heard the part about falling. Another: arms at the doors of death. Over and over, she looked scared, and as she looked up and made eye contact with him, suddenly she disappeared.

He was again in darkness. And then, someone was running forward, barreling towards him. He was sort of funny looking, with curly hair and little horns sticking out of his head. He was biting into something that looked oddly like a tin can. "We got to keep this world clean," he said, "for Pan."

Who Pan was he had no idea, but before he could ask the strange goat man he had vanished.

Again, darkness.

Soon he was able to see a girl, but she wasn't speaking directly to him. She was far off, and looking into the sky. She had olive skin and brown hair, and she was wearing a silvery dress that flowed down to her heels. In her hands was a bow, but he couldn't find any arrows.

She pointed at the sky.

"The hunter," she turned and stared at him. Then, in the second that he blinked, she was inches from his face. She looked scared, and now he realized that she was transparent . . . like a ghost. "Forgive!" She screamed. "Tell him it's the only way!"

"Who do I tell?" He asked, but she vanished, just like the two others, but not the background behind her. He turned to see what she had been looking at. In the sky constellations decorated the sky. One particularly caught his eyes. It was the constellation of a hunter.

He heard footsteps behind him, and this time it was another girl. She had blond hair and a blue cap on, with a logo that had to be a sports team. She was wearing an orange shirt that said something he couldn't make out and had a foggy grey pair of eyes. She walked closer to him.

He wanted to run away from her, for he had been spooked out enough tonight, but he was rooted to the spot like she had psychic powers and she wouldn't let him move. With every step his heart began to beat faster and faster, like it would race out of his chest and fly away. Pretty soon she was only about a foot away, but luckily she stopped. She looked at the sky the girl earlier had been looking at.

"Beautiful," she turned back to him, as if waiting for a reply. He only shrugged. "You don't remember?"

"Huh?"

She shook her head and a look of pity formed. "Never forget who you are," she said, sounding so desperate he had to take a step back. She took another step closer. "Remember."

"I don't understand . . . . "

"Remember who you are, never forget! Remember who you are Percy!"

That was the last thing he remembered hearing before he woke up. _Remember who you are Percy. _

Remember.


	2. Chapter 1

**Cause I forgot to mention this before, this is my version of ****The Son of Neptune.**** Obviously, it's not called that so I can understand why you might get confused. I'm going to introduce some new characters in this story, along with others mentioned in ****The Lost Hero ****(Reyna, Dakota, Bobby . . . except I'm making Bobby a girl.)**

**I'm not sure how this story is going to do, but considering how I got some reviews for the prologue, I have high hopes for this one. Percy might be a little OOC, but I haven't read the book in a while. (More like years! JK. More like months!) So I'll try and read a bit and learn Percy's personality better. In the meantime, you're going to have to stick with my Percy. **

**Read and Review! **

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><p><em>"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." -Jimi Hendrix<em>

"Damn it!" someone screamed in the bathroom. It echoed around the small cabin, but he was the only one who could hear it. Suddenly everything went quiet, and a girl popped her head out of the bathroom. She had a toothbrush in one hand that the boy worried she would attack him with, and a foaming mouth (or toothpaste) which he worried she might bite him with.

She had a really dark tan and long braid of black hair with red ribbon running through it. The strange part was that she had the same sea green eyes as him, as if he was looking at a mirror and this was what popped up. If anyone didn't know better, they may have thought they were fraternal twins, black hair, tan skin, green eyes. He would have thought that himself.

"You better not tell anyone I just lost another toothbrush," she said, glaring at him, "or I shall personally slice you're head off and add it to our collection." She nodded to one side of the wall, a wall that had been to dark the previous night for him to notice. On the wall were several heads of animals, or at least he hoped they were. Half of them didn't look like anything you would see at a zoo behind fences.

The boy looked at her, and then lied back on the bed.

"Not talkative today . . . . hmmm Percy? I could have sworn you were blabbing off about something before you went to bed . . . . I just forgot what . . ." she paused, thinking. "You were taking last night, right?"

The boy, who's name must be Percy, didn't remember a last night. "What are you talking about?" In fact, he didn't remember anything since him waking up in the middle of the night, and then the strange dream.

She came over and poked his head with the butt her new toothbrush. "I don't know. Let's forget we even spoke this morning." She made her way back into the bathroom and then locked the door with a click.

Percy . . . . he had forgotten his own name, along with everything else. Where the heck was he anyways? Why doesn't he remember anything? Who was that girl? What's with that strange dream he had last night? Who was that girl with the grey eyes that told him to remember something? It was like a black void covering his mind, shadowing over everything. It was the feeling of knowing something, like it's on the tip of your tongue, but it doesn't go any farther than that. What Percy was feeling was hard to explain, like everything was whipped away, taken from him.

I mean, he had a past . . . right? He had a family that cared for him, loving friends and teachers, maybe even a pet dog? What had happened to him?

He decided to ask his cabin mate and try to figure some things out.

For the second time that day, Percy walked over to the bathroom. He knocked on the door, which was quickly responded with a kick. For a second he was worried he might find a hole in the wooden door with a foot stuck in the middle. "I'm naked!" his roommate screamed. "Perv on the loose! Someone go call Lupa!"

"I just want to ask you a few questions!" he screamed right back at the door.

The door opened slightly and the girl's head popped out in the opening. Luckily, yes, he looked, she was fully dressed. "What?" she glared, "I would like to go pee now, so if you don't mind I would like you to go and get dressed in your fancy little boy underwear and let me pee in peace. Thank you." She slammed the door in his face, missing his nose by inches.

Things could be worse, he kept repeating in his head. She had told him to get dressed, and obviously she new more things than he did. He walked over to the small closet he had seen before, the one with the weapons and clothes. There were several pairs of jeans, coming in all different shades and colors, but only one shirt. It was a blood red color that had "First Legion" written over the chest. Well that sounded promising.

He put on a pair of jeans and a shirt, and when he looked in the mirror to inspect himself, the shirt had turned orange. A bright orange color, way different than the bloody red it had been before. Even worse, the shirt said "Camp Half-Blood" instead. But then he rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing things clearly, and when he opened his eyes it was a red shirt again.

"I'm going crazy," he mumbled.

"What was that?" He hadn't heard that girl open the door, and she was drying her hair with a towel on the bed above his. "I'm a baby? Yeah, we all know you're a baby, well, sort of. Only a God would dare take on Dakota but you did yesterday, so obviously you're not that big a baby." Her eyebrows scrunched together. "You're more like a baby point five."

"You done torturing me, because I have a few questions to ask." He snapped. Let him show her who the man in the house was.

She sighed, a long and heavy one, which told him it was a fake. "What type of questions?"

He didn't know how to explain his situation with her. Well, you see, I sort of forgot everything and I don't even remember who I am, let alone who you are. Also, I had this strange dream, and there was this hot blonde who told me not to forget who I was. Talk about creepy.

"First, I want to know who you are."

She blinked, and then blinked again. "Did Dakota hit you or something to make you're brain go whack? Or did you just finally lose it?"

"I'm serious!"

"All right, all right," she said defensively, "but seriously Perce, you don't know who I am?"

He shook his head. "Should I? I mean, I don't remember anything at all, much less who you are. At first . . . . I didn't even remember my own name."

"Should I be worried?" She finished drying her hair and she placed the towel in a tub filled with dirty clothes. "Because if you're playing a prank or something on me, then so help me, I will ―"

"I'm not! Answer something, please?"

Another sigh. "Fine. I'm Bobby, and I'm you're half sister." She must have seen that he didn't understand. "Neptune? Hello? Our big daddy?"

"You mean Poseidon," he instantly corrected. He didn't know how he knew that, he just knew that it meant something.

"I mean Neptune. Poseidon is the Greek God of the sea, our dad is Neptune, the Roman God of the sea, anything else?"

"Where are we?"

"Were at First Legion, the most horrible and blood-thirsty place in the world," when she smiled it truly looked evil, "trust me, we spill more blood than Edward and Bella do."

Percy nodded, soaking in all the information like a sponge. Neptune/Poseidon, an annoying half sister named Bobby, and a camp called First Legion . . . nice. "What's so bad about it?"

"Oh nothing, just the fact that Lupa is the coldest hearted creature the Gods ever made, and that this is a camp where the strong live and the weak die." She shook her head. "Nothing bad about it at all."

"Cut the sarcasm Bobby."

"What else you want to know."

He thought for a bit. "I had a strange dream last night . . . there were four people, and they all looked kind of freaked out. Then, the last girl, she said something about remembering who I am."

Bobby was silent for a while, and then she just shrugged. "A lot of people have really weird dreams around here, so that's nothing uncommon. If you want we can speak to someone." Percy didn't like the idea of someone going through his mind and replaying all his dreams. He had had enough whack for one day, and the sun hadn't even risen yet.

"So the day gets better after this?"

He hadn't really expected an answer, but then Bobby said, "You want the truth?" When he nodded Bobby finished, "No. This is the good part."

The bell had rang right while Percy and Bobby were in the middle of their Q&A. Bobby had screamed "Damn it!" and then ran into the closet and pulled out a piece of silver armor. She threw it at Percy, which he miraculously caught. "Good catch, not put it on." He did as he was told, and then was shoved out of the door.

Outside people were storming out of cabins in heavy armor like his, running towards what looked like a center plaza. There were twelve picnic benches in the plaza, six on each side with a center isle running through. Each table had a different symbol painted on the table, like a bow and arrow, a helmet, and lyre . . . There was also a huge stage that only had a few pieces of wood left on it, barley enough to stand on which made it look strangely like the ruins of Hurricane Katrina. People ran by all around him, each person as muscular as the other, making him and Bobby look a little out of place. Some held spears and swords, while others still had toothbrushes stuck in their mouths. The strange thing was, no one spoke, well, except for Bobby. She poked his side, making him jump a good inch. "Let me smell your breath." He blew some air on her face, and she made a disgusted look. "Don't breathe around Lupa if you want to stay alive."

"Who's Lupa?" he asked, a little too loudly. Someone beside his told him the shush. He felt Bobby pulling him towards one of the tables, the one painted blue with a golden triton on it. Whoever had painted that symbol didn't have any artistic talent, for the trident's points were rounded, the shading made it look brown, and from far away it looked like a beaten up pitchfork. Poseidon, God of sea . . . . trident equals Poseidon, which means . . ..

Just as he sat down invisible people began to carry trays towards them .Or at least, he thought they were invisible because there was no one anywhere near the trays. They were just floating through the air towards their table, never spilling and somehow moving out of the way for people. On them were eggs, bacon, sausages . . . anything to make a young boy like him happy. Ruining the moment, he felt someone kick him under the table. He was about to say, "What the . . ." when Bobby whispered, "Don't look that excided, and you better not drool."

Percy raised an eyebrow as if to say, "I'm not drooling . . . am I?"

"No emotion! Emotion gets you killed!" she paused, "Well, if the emotion is anger than you'll be fine, but otherwise, dead!" She moved her finger across her neck, which obviously meant "you're dead."

He didn't like the sound of that so for the rest of the meal he ate with no expression. He didn't express anything when he had to give up the best part of his plate for these Gods, he didn't express anything when he bit into the syrupy pancakes, and he diffidently didn't express anything as this so called Lupa stepped onto the demolished stage.

For some reason he imagined Lupa as this pretty old lady with a frown drawn on her face, so when a wolf stepped in the stage, he had to bite his tongue to keep him from gasping. She had red, copper like fur that looked like the color of their shirts, only browner. Percy also realized she had grey eyes like that girl in his dreams, except Lupa's was more like a silvery color, while the girls was like mist.

On the stage, Lupa cleared her throat (do wolves even do that?) and said, "Campers," a small boy was being led onto the stage, "this is Scott. He will be the newest camper here. Make him welcome." She smiled at the last words, as if it were her dirty little secret she shared with them. The boy, Scott, couldn't have been over the age of ten, and his black hair covered a majority of his face. "Also, there will be chariot racing today along with you're regular activities, hosted by our last month's champions, Rimini and Reyna!"

Two girls stood up, each from a different table. One of them stood up from the Apollo table, the other Ceres. The one from the Apollo table wore all black and had her hair falling down her shoulders. She had cat green eyes, snow white skin, and red nails. At each tip of her nails they were pointed, as if she wanted to be like a cat even more. The other, the Ceres daughter, had brown hair with red and white flowers interlaced in it. She, strangely, had purple irises, the color of violets, and purple nails. She was wearing a blue top and a black sweater, with blue jeans shorts with holes in them. She smiled, unlike the other girl, and then waved.

People cheered.

As Bobby and Percy were making their way down to the track, Bobby pulled Percy aside. "Just incase you don't remember, the Goth girl is Reyna and the flower girl is Rimini. They used to be really good friends, well, until Jason went missing. Yeah, after that Reyna started withdrawing from everybody, and then PMSing like crazy. She also went totally Goth and black and she stopped singing and everything." Percy could see Reyna walking down to the field alone, her books close to her chest.

"Rimini is more on the quiet side, and she loves to underestimate herself, and then when she wins she's all like 'Ceres is looking out for me babe'. Oh yeah, and don't mess with her, because rumor is that she has this funky Ceres kid's only power that can kill." Bobby shivered. "She's also wicked with a sword, while Reyna is good with the bow. They made a pretty good team, back when they were still friends."

Someone tapped his shoulder. "You're not a very good whisperer Bobby, cause I could like hear you from all the way up the hill." It was Rimini, purple eyes and all. She started to walk down with them, which obviously made Bobby nervous. "And yes," she said, looking at Percy, "Reyna and I were once very good friends."

"Until Jason came along." Bobby added.

Riley glared at her. "Yeah. Until Jock Jason came along and screwed up Reyna's life." Bobby looked confused, so Rimini enlightened her, "You mean, you didn't hear?"

Bobby shook her head.

"When Jason and Reyna started to 'go out', it was more a Reyna's head over heals for this guy but the looser guy doesn't give a care. Reyna started to do everything with Jason, and she withdrew from us, her own friends."

"That's so not true," Bobby insisted, "because Jason was nice to everyone. He loved and helped everyone!"

"Haha," Rimini picked some dirt out of her nail, "you're right about that. He _loved_ everyone. Right now, he's probably off making out with some lame Aphrodite chick and can't even remember who Reyna is."

"I highly doubt that."

"You're only standing up for him because he's not afraid of you." As Rimini said that, Bobby instantly stepped back and put her hand on the hilt of her knife. "Go ahead, try that."

"Oh look, there's the track! Let's go before this turns into some huge fight!" Percy said, pulling Bobby away from Rimini and down to the bleachers. They made their way down, with Percy pulling Bobby the whole way, through a course of "Hi Percy's!" and "What's up man?". And the strange thing was, no one even bothered to say hi to Bobby the whole way down. Even at their seats, where they could see a whole chunk of the track, no one even noticed Bobby.

"Hey Bob," Percy began, wondering if he should ask her about her lack of friends. Obviously, it wasn't like she was unknown, because Rimini seemed to have a pretty good picture of who Bobby was. Also, when they sat down, the people on Bobby's side left and took another seat, farther up. It was like she had some poisonous disease on her or something.

"What Percy?" her eyes, a perfect replica of his, looked even sadder than usual, and the glint and happiness he had seen in the morning vanished.

"Nothing, race is about to begin." And indeed the race was. On the stage, pairs of two were lining up in the center of the field. Rimini and Reyna were leading them, but somehow they were able to stand a good five feet away from each other.

"Demigods and monsters," Rimini shouter over the roar of the crowd, "the March chariot race is about to begin!"

"Please," Reyna said, "Don't get to excited over this. It's just a stupid race, no unnecessary screaming or anything." Her voice cracked at the end.

"And now . . ."

"With our seven teams . . ."

"Please prepare yourself. ..."

"For the ride of your life!"

The racers strapped themselves into their chariots.

"Three!" The crowd roared.

"Two!"

"One!"

"Go!"

Then the chariots took off, leaving only some grey dust in their wake.

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><p>AN: Read and Review!


	3. Chapter 2

**Second chapter peoples!**

**I'm hoping for more reviews . . . . because I didn't really get any for the last chapter. **

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><p><em>"Without you, there'd be no sun in my sky, there would be no love in my life, there'd be no world left of me." -Leann Rimes<em>

Suddenly, everything went blurry, and Percy couldn't tell one chariot from another. Then, everything was clear again. . . . Except he was at a different track . . . . And different people were racing. Rimini and Reyna were no longer in the front, there was another chariot. Somehow, Percy could tell it was the same girl in his dreams steering the horses.

Then out of nowhere, these strange, metallic like birds started to dive out of the sky. They headed for the people in the bleachers and the chariots, pecking them and tearing at their clothes. The victims mouths opened, and Percy braced himself for the screams, but nothing came out. No sound.

Percy was too stunned to speak.

Then, everything went back to normal. The grey eyed girl had disappeared, replaced by Rimini and Reyna. Rimini, as Bobby had said, was good with a sword. She had blocked one of the racers swords and then shoved the butt of her sword into his armor. That was going to leave a bruise. He fell off the moving chariot, only to be trampled over by two pitch black horses.

In the stands, Percy could hear people gasp and cover their eyes, but everyone stayed seated. On the track, the boy rolled around, clutching his injured led, and even from this distance Percy could tell he was trying to not cry out in pain.

No one raced down to help him.

So Percy did.

Running in full armor made him slower, but magically he made it to him. Bobby was still on the bleachers calling his name, but Percy chose to ignore her. The boy that had fallen had a nasty gash on his leg, where chest plate didn't cover. Blood spilled out, covering the track.

"You alright?" Percy asked.

"God, I'm going to kill that girl," he said, "look what happened to my leg."

Percy was able to get him to stand up, then let him lean on his shoulder. They wobbled over to the bleachers, where half of the spectators were eyeing them. Bobby was rushing down, pushing half the people in front of her out of the way, while the others zipped away.

"You're so dead!" She said, over and over. "You're so dead, so dead! Lupa is going to kill you!"

She nudged the boy leaning on his shoulder. "Sorry Nick, but you're really supposed to be crushed by all those horses, lying on the ground dead."

"Really?" He said, glaring at Bobby nervously.

"Hey, I think you might want to get to the nurses or something," Percy said, glancing at the gash on Nick's leg, "that doesn't look to pretty."

"Huh, funny . . .. I don't remember having a nurse here." He looked around.

Several people were looking at them curiously. Others were glaring at Percy, then whispering things to their friends. The other half had a look of pity on their faces. Percy didn't understand why they weren't trying to help Nick, and why no one had tried to get him off the track before he was killed. He didn't even understand this place, not one bit. The campers behaved oddly, as if they were afraid of something. I guess Percy just didn't know enough to be afraid.

"We don't have a nurse, remember Percy?" Bobby said, a look of warning written all over her forehead. Another look flashed in her eyes: _shut up and let me do the talking. _"All right guys, go back to celebrating," Bobby began, trying to sway their attention to the track, but when that didn't work she finished, "Oh my gosh! Rimini and Reyna have done it again!"

This time people turned their heads, only to find that Rimini and Reyna had not crossed the finish line, but were instead bickering with each other. In that moment, Bobby was able to grab Percy, still holding on to Nick, and pull him away from the staring of the crowd. Percy, who found it harder to run with Bobby pulling and shoving, ripped his arms away from his half-sisters. She motioned for them to enter this strange building, its red brick covered in ancient symbols Percy couldn't understand. There was a chimney rising from the roof and dealing out smoke, and a old rocking chair beaten up by years of rain still slowly moving back and forth.

"The layer of the beast!" Nick wailed, and Percy quickly shut him up by pinching him. "That hurt."

The house looked uninviting, as if it had stood there for hundreds of years and not been entered. Green plants clung to the bricks, making gaps in them, and as Bobby led the trio onto the porch it squeaked, then threatened to give way to Percy and Nick. The doors hinges had been ripped off, the actual door leaning on the wall beside it. It looked like something you would pay five bucks to enter on Halloween, where ghosts and goblins jump out from behind chairs.

Bobby must have noticed the sick feeling Percy was showing, and she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. Terri is friendly."

"Who's Terri?" Percy managed to croak out. This monster house was starting to freak him out, along with Nick.

"Terri the terror!" He kept moaning.

"Shut up Nick!" Percy was tempted to let the boy drop to the floor like he was a crumpled up rag doll.

"Terri the terror," someone said from inside, "yeah, that's my name. Terri Terror, love the sound of it."

A thin girl stood in front of the door, long golden hair that reached the floor as if she was Rapunzel or something. She was wearing all pink and Doc Marten combat boots. She looked frail, gaunt, and couldn't be over the age of ten. Staring back at Percy were two brown eyes, equivalent to the size of saucers.

She led them inside.

"Terri's our oracle," Bobby said for the third time in a row, "which means she gives us these prophecies for when people go on quests."

Nick seemed to be recovering, and once Terri had covered his gash with bandages he seemed to acknowledge that she was not about to rip his head off. But still, he was shaking and glancing around the room as if spiders were going to jump out on him with a chainsaw. "Remind me never to watch The Orphan or The Ring before bed," he kept mumbling to himself.

"So you're Percy," Terri began, "I've had a vision about you."

"You did?"

She nodded.

"What happened in it?"

She shook her head, the motioned to Bobby and Nick. "Not while they are here. It is not for their ears to hear, only yours."

Percy nodded as if he understood the answer and the reason. What had made the vision so important that he only hear?

Nick began to moan again, adding that to the list of things Nick did to bother him. Percy was beginning to wonder if saving him had been the best idea or if leaving him to get trampled was better. Right now he favored the later option.

"Just shut up!" Bobby squealed. "God you're so annoying!"

"I need to go pee."

"Why should that concern me?"

"Cause you're going to help me get there."

"Why do you sound so sure?"

Nick pulled a thin golden coin from his pocket and then tossed it at Bobby's feet. She swiped it up and then turned it over, as if trying to decide if it was real. When she was satisfied that it was she glared at Nick, then without a word wrapped her arm around his shoulder and helped him out of the room. Percy could hear Bobby complaining outside of the room and Nick whining about how not gentle Bobby was being. "Well," he heard Bobby snap, "If you wanted gentle you should have bribed Percy."

Now he was alone with Terri which was kind of freaking him out. Terri kept studying him with her glazed brown eyes.

Then, "I saw a girl, grey eyes, daughter of Minerva, or, if you prefer, Athena. She was calling you're name, 'Percy, where are you?'" She paused, and then began again. "I saw a faun, his horns hardly visible in his curly hair organizing nature sprits in groups, again, looking for you. I saw a girl with wild red hair praying to the Gods for a vision about you, and I saw a centaur, also praying. I saw a golden haired boy, surrounded by thunder, a beautiful daughter by his side and a strong willed boy reaching into a strange bag."

He didn't know what to say.

"Somewhere, you are missed. Somewhere peo―"

Suddenly her eyes rolled back into her head and it looked as if she were being possessed. She began to twitch but didn't fall to the floor, her body fighting whatever was invading her.

In the midst of all that, her mouth opened and she said:

"_You and two others will go,_

_To the land and place with ice and snow._

_Another will join, one will fall,_

_And make sure that they do not call._

_First head south to the gates of traitors bluff,_

_You'll do the right thing, if you're tough._

_In the end you'll find the vial,_

_But only if you can past the trail."_

Percy had another dream that night, but it wasn't about him. This time it showed a girl with brown black hair swinging on a playground. She and this other boy were the only ones there, and he sitting on the ground next to her trying to say something to her. Percy crept forward, trying to hear what they were saying. On the swing the girl laughed, her hair blowing behind her in the wind. The boy said something again to her, this time making her cheeks redden.

As Percy continued to creep forward, he could see the boy more clearly. He had black hair, pale skin and a Nike's t-shirt that said Just Do It in big capitol letters. He was holding a folder in his hand was reading off a sheet of paper. The closer Percy got, he could tell that it was a poem.

"When she laughs you see colors of silk/ Red or scarlet, blue or ocean, white or milk/ It can cause a thunder in a lullaby/or a thief to forget their alibi." He paused, and then looked up at the girl. She had stopped swinging was listening to his poem. Her eyes were shut. "Her skin is soft, her voice is pure/She's always there, just right here/I love her too much, that I know/ and I pray to God she'll never go"

He looked up to her, as if waiting for her approval.

She nodded. "That's a nice one," the girl said, stepping off the swing and sitting next to the boy.

"I'll make a part two for you later if you want." He said as he began to stuff his poems into the folder. Percy could see he was pleased with the outcome.

The girl wrapped her arms around him. "I would love to hear it."

"Then you'll be the first one."

"You're so sweet."

The boy stood up and bowed. "It's part of the whole romance concept Rimini."

Percy could barley hear those words before he woke up: Rimini, Rimini.

And just like himself, he knew that Rimini had a dark past.

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><p><em>AN: Percy's having a lot of dreams . . . isn't he?_

_So the poem and prophecy are mine, I take full credit for it because I made it._

_Read and Review!_


	4. Chapter 3

**Read and Review!**

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><p><em>The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.<em> - M. Scott Peck

_Land of Ice? Someone's going to die? _Percy's thoughts drifted over again to Terri's strange prediction . . . or something ― I mean, what do you call it? Terri's strange speech, he settled on.

Suddenly Percy felt the wind being knocked out of him. It was as if someone was pulling out his stomach and then not bothering to stitch him back together. He grabbed his stomach but kept his eye on his opponent, still hovering over him with his sword drawn.

"Gods Percy, you have to pay attention," his opponents said, clearly annoyed. He was tall and gaunt, but under his short sleeved shirt was all muscle and abs. His grey-brown face showed no sign of amusement or laughter. Percy's vision swayed slightly. He glanced around the room again as if he wanted to be paired up with anyone but Percy. Ashamed, Percy grabbed his sword and stood up straight, only to be confronted with another pain from his now throbbing stomach.

"Sorry . . . ." he forgot the guys name for a second.

"Jed."

"Sorry Jed."

Jed, clearly annoyed, took another swing at Percy, which he was able to deflect and counter back at. It went on for a while like that, obvious that neither of the two were going to lose. Percy could practically see Jed's moves before he even did them, but it took Percy that amount of time to block Jed's quick blows. Most of the time Percy was on defense, being pushed back by the strength in Jed's blows. After a while, both the boys were sweating, beads of rain falling down to the ground, then landing with a _splat._

Abruptly, both the boys' feet were entangled with grass. It had slithered up from the dirt floor then encased their shoes, so when Percy tried to peruse Jed ― who he had finally gotten to go on defense ― he found himself unable to move and tripped. Landing on his butt, Percy let out a shrill _ow. _If Jed were still standing, he would have worried that his fall seemed "girlish" and "wimpy" but like him Jed was on the floor.

"Rimini!" Jed screamed.

Percy turned his head and found that Rimini was standing in the doorway.

Last night's dream pressed down on him and he saw the same girl, but her purple shades were gone and her monotone look was replaced with glee. What could have changed a person so much? Percy remembered what Bobby had told him about Reyna and Jason, how Jason's disappearance had led to Reyna's personality change.

Rimini untangled the vines at their feet, and the grass blades receded into the dirt floor.

She motioned towards Percy. "Lupa wants you."

"What for?"

She shrugged, obviously unwilling to give him an answer. "I don't know, but you better not keep her waiting."

Unsure of whether he should run to Lupa and hug her or if he should run away from her, Percy slowly untied his armor and then placed it on a wooden shelf. Without the protection of the armor, Percy felt venerable, to any wolf that may want him dead.

He hobbled outside of the building and made his way towards the lake.

From what Bobby had told him, Lupa had a place near the edge of the woods and it was hard to miss. Near the lake, Percy could see people rowing boats and some were even swimming in it. The sun beat down on the water, making it reflect back at him.

He saw himself.

Who else had seen that exact same person? Who had called that person a friend? His mind was empty, starving for the answers no one could answer. Even worst, he was now haunted by dreams that taunted his mind and his very soul. He knew the basics, like he was a boy, he had black hair and sea green eyes, he knew he was the son of Neptune . . . . And he had a half sister.

He knew that somewhere in the world, a grey eyed girl existed and was looking for him, he just didn't know who or where. He knew the what, but that was it. The when, where, why, how were all unanswered questions.

"What am I doing here?" He mumbled.

Bobby was right. Lupa's house wasn't a big mansion, but it wasn't a small shack either. It was entirely built of trees and grass; branches twisted this way and that to form a roof and the walls. Leaves, vines, grass, and fern fell in-between the branches. There was a small opening that Percy had to duck down to enter.

Inside was plain and dull, like the inside of an Indians' wigwam, with a fire in the middle and smoke rising out of a hole in the top. It was surprising that the whole house wasn't burning down. Lupa was sitting down by the fire, staring at him with her grey eyes.

"Percy Jackson," she said the name as if it were a curse, "I'm so glad to have finally met you."

"You too," Percy muttered back, unsure of what to say. She looked at him as if she were unsure of what to do with him, like a stray dog that had wandered to her house.

Lupa stood up, and proved she was at least five feet tall, and just as broad. "Do you remember anything?"

He thought a moment, and then shook his head.

"Hmmm . . . . What do the Gods' have in mind now? Why on Earth would you be here?"

Lupa stood up and walked closed to him. "Away from the door."She snapped.

Percy walked over to the other side of the grass hut and sat in the shadows the leaves made.

"Son of Poseidon, what are you hiding?"Lupa asked him. The question made him feel uncomfortable, because it was obvious that Lupa could see through him.

"No -n-nothing."

She smirked. "Not like that. What secrets do you have in that human brain of yours? What do you know of the others? Who are you. . .. Well, who _were_ you before you came here to me."

Percy didn't say anything.

"You have power, Percy Jackson. You are the ― their ― leader, I mean, what are they without a leader? They are just a pack of babies, but without their parent, none of them will survive, for they will never learn how to protect themselves.

"Where is our leader?" she whispered.

They stared at each other for a moment, each gaze barring down on the other, each unwilling to give up first.

"You're leader?" Percy asked.

"Jason."

The name rippled memories in his brain.

"I see you know our student, the son of Jupiter."

Percy nodded, unsure of where the conversation was heading. Lupa walked around the fire, then sat down and stared at it as if it were showing her something.

"Our oracle hasn't told us prophecy in months, ever since she told the one about seven half-bloods. . . "Lupa continued to talk, saying how useless everyone was in her camp. His mind began to wander to the girl with red hair who had also mentioned seven half bloods. Seven half-bloods, the world will fall, something about a call . . .

"Percy!"

The hatred in her voice threw him back to reality. Her eyes focused in on him as if she were trying to see trough everything that was hidden inside of him.

Outside someone screamed, probably one of the people swimming in the lake nearby. They sounded like they were having fun, but sometimes it's hard to tell the difference between happiness and sadness. People have become great liars these days.

"Go," she demanded,"you are worthless to me."

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><p><em>AN: Read and Review!_


	5. Chapter 4

**This is my best chapter yet, hope you enjoy it.**

**Read and Review!**

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><p><em>"It's enough! I've done all I can think of<em>  
><em>Chased down all my demons, I've seen you do the same" - Perfect by Pink<em>

"Hey," Bobby said, brushing the legs of someone's jeans, "I found this in your jeans pocket. I think it sort of like one of those fountain pens, but I'm not entirely sure ― you see when I uncapped it this huge sword came out and nearly chopped my head off." She folded up the jeans and placed it in her closet, right on top of two other pairs. Then, she dug into her pocket and took something out.

It was, like Bobby said, a pen. It was golden, and looked like one of those fountain pens you would get from a hotel desk. "See," she said, pulling off the cap. A huge bronze pen came out of where the tip of the pen should have been. "Nearly chopped off my head again; you know I do like my head a lot, right?"

Percy didn't answer. _Riptide, _he thought. "Riptide."

Bobby raised an eyebrow and then pulled out a Camp Legion shirt from the basket of washed clothes. She folded the arms in and then the shirt once in half and then placed it next to her jeans. "Riptide. . . What's riptide? Is it like a type of reptile or something? Riptide, reptile . . . hmmm close enough." She shrugged and then went back to folding their clothes.

"I don't know it just popped up in my brain when I saw the sword." He hated how he couldn't remember anything when he needed to know. He laid down on his bunk bed and put his hands on his chest. He felt as if he was dead and in a coffin, and he certainly looked that way too. The last time he had brushed his hair must have been . . . Huh. He couldn't remember. Nothing new there.

Bobby threw one of their camp shirts at the wall, leaving it hanging on one of their "animal" heads. He had learned that half of them weren't real a few hours back, but they still looked and seemed real to him. Except for the eyes, for the eyes were glassy like and looked oddly like black marbles. When Percy had asked Bobby what the _other_ half was Bobby had looked nervous. "Don't even ask," was what she had told him.

Now, a black animal with smooth skin and huge fangs was draped in a red shirt. The shirt oddly looked as if it belonged there.

"I got it!" Bobby declared, much louder than she needed to. "Maybe, that's the name of the sword!"

"You think?"

"Definitely. I mean, you said that the name just popped into your head when you saw the sword, and obviously this sword is important if it's concealed ― I used a vocabulary word!―in this fountain pen. Plus it was in your jeans pocket so it must have belonged to you before IT happened."

"IT?"

"It's what I call your very big memory slip." Bobby danced over to the other side of the room where the red shirt lay and then dumped it in their dirty clothes basket. "Dirty," she declared, "who knows when the last time we had dusted that thing was."

Percy looked at the pen Bobby had given him. It did look familiar, like it was on the tip of his tongue but he couldn't quite place what it was or how he knew about it. He felt as if he were sitting in a classroom taking the biggest test of his life ― and of course forgetting every answer.

"Riptide," he said softly so Bobby wouldn't hear him talking to himself. He liked the way the name rolled off of his tongue, the way it felt like a clue to something in the past. Riptide.

He looked up again and saw Bobby sitting on a wooden chair holding her hands to her face. They looked as if they were pressed against her temples.

"Ar-are you ok?" He asked, unsure if he should pursue the matter. But Bobby did look paler than usual and their was a hint of green on her cheeks. Her bangs were drenched on her forehead, like she had just showered.

She looked up. "Huh?"

"You ok? You look like you're going to puke or something."

She leaned closer. "What!"

"You look like you're going to puke!" Why couldn't she hear him? They were ten feet apart!

"Oh," she looked beaten and tired. "I guess so. My head just started to hurt and I felt dizzy. I-it's nothing though, just some migraines or something from all the pressure."

Percy wanted to say "what pressure?" But Bobby, already on her feet, was making her way to the shirt she was currently folding next to the closet. She wobbled a bit as if her legs were unable to carry so much weight but she made it their without a problem. Her face had gotten some color back and she forced a smile on her face.

She reached into the basket and pulled something out. It was one of his boxers. "You have to admit," she said, holding his clothes ten feet away from her, "they should make you do your own laundry."

The grey eyed girl had been in nearly all of his dreams. Some of them Percy thought were memories that might be slowly coming back to him, but others were just dreams. Sometimes they wouldn't talk or say anything, just look up at the stars and try to name constellations. Other times she would explain things to him, old Greek myths that explained everything in the world: Gods and their arguing, Helen of Troy and the Trojan horse, Echo, Arcane, the Miniature, the Griffin and so much more.

The dreams Percy thought were memories were the ones he couldn't control, the ones he couldn't think in. He could only watch and learn. Usually they were battle scenes of him, the grey eyed girl, and several other people he recognized from past dreams. Like that curly hair boy with hoofs and horns, or the girl with raven black hair and I tiara, or the Goth looking kid that raised the dead.

That night was another memory, or at least he thought it was. He was holding a blue cupcake that looked like a lump of concrete and the grey eyed girl was sitting next to him. They looked like they were in another version of First Legion: it had a lake, cabins, and a quad looking area. . . But it looked more happy. All around them people were laughing and smiling and just chatting with friends.

But the weird thing was they were all wearing oranges shirts, just like the one he had seen in the mirror the other day. He hadn't told anyone about that yet, because he was worried about how sane they would think he was.

Anyway, the grey eyed girl was sitting right next to him when he heard The Scream.

The scream that changed his life.

It had shocked him awake, back into the salt smelling cabin and into reality. He had kicked off his blankets and then sat up, so fast him vision was still blurry and black. He could hardly see anything at first, and was unsure where the scream had come from. Outside maybe? Another cabin? For a moment he thought it might have been one of the heads, but when he looked they all looked cold and dead.

Then what ―

A blanket fell down in front of him from above.

Bobby!

Crawling on the ladder up to the top bunk, Percy could hear Bobby's wheezing grow louder, making her sound like air coming out of a deflated tire ― not that he was ever going to tell her that! But with each rung he climbed his worry grew worse, and he started to imagine all the things he would find up there. Maybe Bobby had sprouted wings and horns? Or she had come down with a bad case of West Nile Virus?

But Bobby hadn't sprouted scales, or come down with West Nile Virus. She was lying there, perfectly still, forehead and hair looking as if someone had poured water on it. Her breathing had gotten worse though, and he could see her chest rise and fall with her heavy attempts to breathe in air.

What should he do? He could run to the next cabin over . . . no, the next cabin to him wasn't close enough to get help in time. Lupa? Could she help Bobby? Well, that was assuming he found her in time before Bobby ― her whole body shuddered and her head rose and then barfed up her dinner. Some landed on her shirt but a majority on her bed spread. Percy knew he wouldn't want to do the wash for the next week or so.

She coughed like something was chocking her but Percy didn't know what to do. He stood there and watched his sister barf again; this time food mixed with what he was sure was blood.

_Oh God Bobby!_

Suddenly his thought and everything around him went dry, like all the water was being sucked out of him and the air. He coughed, trying to make his saliva quench the sudden thirst in his dry mouth, but that too was swallowed up by whatever was doing that to him. His skin felt dry and his hair brittle like hay, and worse his head started to spin ―

But as he tilted his head back to fall on the ground, he saw Bobby ― his perfect, friendly, happy Bobby ―was hovering a few inches off her bed, hair a fray and arms and legs limp. Her eyes were still closed but that wasn't what had scared Percy.

Above her was all the water in the room: his sweat, his saliva, the animal heads . . . She had stolen the water from them, and they were hovering above her in little bubbles, mocking him as they danced around and formed shapes.

And then he felt his body fall. . . But he didn't feel it when he landed.


	6. Chapter 5

**Ohhh . . . what happened to Bobby? **

**Read to find out!**

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><p>Water had never, ever, felt so good. Percy took another gulp and closed his eyes as it quenched his burning throat.<p>

"We're going to need another glass of water here," a tall, wide shouldered girl said, waving for someone to get another glass. Her black hair was draped over her shoulders and muscled bulged on her arms like hills. Her whole presence was intimidating, but it was like some strange aura was keeping people away from her. _Sorta like Bobby,_ he thought. Bobby.

A girl floating over her bed flashed in his mind ― water, emptiness ― he saw himself grabbing his throat and then fall to the ground. It was like a nightmare or a horror movie where instead of melting, the witch dries up, like Capricorn in the Inkheart movie. Images flashed in his mind, or himself, his hair brittle and skin and lips chap from lack of water.

What had happened? What ―

Suddenly the talking around him went quiet and people turned their attention away from him and to someone in the back of the cluster. Then, the campers split, making an isle down the middle. Even that girl who had gotten him more water went pale, but the other students went more of a white color.

Percy, sitting down on a bed in what looked like another cabin (maybe Athena or Apollo?), suddenly felt as if the air conditioner went off and an invisible wind flittered in the air.

Down the isle the campers had made Lupa came, but her eyes were literally on fire, and, was it just him, or was her claws longer? Lupa strolled up to Percy as if she had all the time in the world, one paw in front of another, until she was at the foot of his bed and looking in his eyes.

Then she laughed.

You could tell by the way the campers looked around at each other they were surprised, and whispering started as one person whispered "why'd she do that?" to the person next to them. Some of them shrugged, others whispered their own theories back to their friend.

Lupa, meanwhile, was undisturbed by the sudden commenting on her actions. Sure, they were strange and left everyone baffled, but knowing Lupa (and unfortunately Percy did), she had a dark evil thought behind that laugh.

"So," she smirked, and everyone went quiet. The twenty or so campers had a look of pity in their eyes, as if to say, "Good luck man and you're going to need it." He even heard one person in front of him say, "Percy was such a good guy," which made him want to laugh, scream, and run all at the same time. But Lupa wasn't going to let any of that happen, because she darted to the side of his bed where his cup of water was placed, took it in her mouth and then splashed it all over Percy. His mouth formed a big O and more whispers enveloped the group.

"All of you," she motioned to the campers, "go. You're making way to much noise and it's annoying me, and probably Percy too. You have no idea what it is like to have all the water in your body sucked out of you." When no one moved Lupa screamed for them to go and they darted to the nearest exit.

"Wait ― Dakota, stay here. We might need a doctor if Bobby did enough damage."

Bobby did this to me? _She's _the reason I feel so weak, so dry and powerless? He tried to sit up but felt the effort was over rated and laid back down. He was hoping no one had caught him do that too, but the look in Lupa's eye ― a smirk mixed in with pity ― showed that she had seen his weakness and vulnerability.

Percy looked down at his white bed spread and white sheets, and then around the cabin, which was filled with music notes and instruments. Shelved filled with everything from medicine, clothes, trophies, pictures of family, weapons (mostly bows and arrows), books, more books, and more books, cluttered the wooden walls and stretched from the ground to the ceiling. Their were several bunk beds, about a dozen more than what was in his and Bobby's room.

"I guess you would want to know what happened to you." Lupa asked, walking around the room. She surveyed the mess and clutter, and then shook her head. With her body she shoved at one of the shelves ― it was filled with clothes and armor ―and then with one final thrust it fell on to the ground. The clothes, now Percy could tell they were dirty, piled on the floor like a hill. Lupa turned to the girl, Dakota, and said, "You better get one of the boys to pick their clothes up more often. I know you're the only girl and sometimes cleaning is difficult but you're going to need to be tidier."

She sighed, and then turned back to Percy, leaving Dakota staring at the fallen shelf. "Percy, Percy Jackson, I believe?" She walked over and sat down by his hand. He pulled his hand away from her, thinking she might bite it. "Relax," she snapped. "I'm not going to lick it, that's what dogs are for."

Dakota, sitting on one of the bunk beds, snorted, making Lupa glare at her. "Shut up or you're going to end up as dog food."

She turned back at Percy and looked at him in the eye. "Celestial's Disease."

"What?"

"That's what Bobby has, Celestial's Disease, which means, 'Godly Disease'," Lupa paused, and then began again. "Some half-bloods are diagnosed with this sickness when they are born, giving them . . . problems as they grow up. You may thing Gods are perfect, but think again. You see, when a God and a human have sex, there is a one out of a hundred percent chance that the child would have the disease."

"And Bobby has this . . . disease."

Lupa nodded and then continued. "You see, the disease varies with each godly parent, lets say that for a child of Mercury the result of the disease would mean the child just has an extra boost of trickery, or a more powerful urge to steal something. For some rare, very rare cases, the child would be able to fly at the speed of light."

"So . . ." Percy thought of what happened last night with Bobby, how the water floated above her. "It sort of like gives the child an extra boost of their power or something like that." Lupa nodded. "Wouldn't that be a good thing?"

Dakota, who Percy just remembered was in the room, hopped down from the top bunk and said, "No control."

"What?" Percy asked.

"No control," she repeated, "right Lupa?"

Lupa nodded, probably pleased on how fast Dakota was catching on to this. Dakota also seemed pleased to please Lupa, and in return offered to explain the rest of her theory.

"No thanks Dakota," Lupa said, and the smile on Dakota's face fell. "I'll do it, just to save time."

"You see Percy," she continued, "Dakota was right. The answer is 'no control'. They do get the extra boost of power or craving for whatever is special about that God, but they have no control over it. So for the child of Mercury they would be able to fly at the speed of light, but they would have no control over where they were going. For all they know they could have been flying to the moon or something."

Percy gulped. "Why? How? What? How does it happen?" He couldn't believe that out of a hundred demigods, Bobby, his newfound sister, had this . . . sickness that made her and everyone around her vulnerable.

"It's one of the side affects of being a demigod, but for a strange reason only a handful of kids get to experience it," she said, her voice low. "I usually wouldn't allow someone like that to enter my camp, but I had promised her father, your father too, that I would take her in, and now I am regretting it. She is a danger to all of the campers and to herself."

"But ―" Percy tried to object.

"Percy!" Lupa snapped. "If Scott hadn't gotten you out of there you would be dead! All the water sucked out of your body, just think of what would happen to someone like you! You would have shriveled up like a grape and turned into a prune! You. Would. Be. Dead."

"Lup ―"

"She's a danged to us all!" She ranted, and if she were a human Percy could picture her throwing her arms back in frustration. Instead, she shook her head. "What am I going to do? For some reason I can't seem to contact your father or any other of the Olympians, and it's driving me crazy!"

_Y__ou're already crazy, _Percy thought sadly. _Just like me. _

Lupa sighed, and Dakota walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "You nee―" Suddenly the door was thrown open and a boy, probably around Percy's age with long blond hair came rushing in. He darted over to Lupa and didn't even bother to look up at Percy or notice Dakota glaring at him. His forehead was covered in sweat and he looked as if he had just run a marathon.

"Lupa," He screamed at the top of his lungs. "What?" She demanded, irritated. He glanced around and then just seemed to notice that he and Dakota were in the room. He nodded to Percy and then continued. "Bobby's awake."

She was lying on a shriveled up rug that must have been blue a long, long time ago, before Bobby came to torture it. The cabin walls, floor, and ceiling was bare, with nothing covering it besides the wood, a window, and dust. Obviously the cabin hadn't been used in a long time and had been cleared out of all its items. Bobby was just laying there like a tree in a desert, the only thing in the whole room (well, besides the rug.)

"Bobby?" Percy hesitated, unsure of if he should walk into the room. His heart fluttered around in his chest, thumping against his chest like a drum. He turned to Lupa. "Do I go in?" She shook her head, and then motioned for him, the boy who had told them Bobby was awake, and Dakota to follow her. Lupa lead them to the other side of the cabin where the window Percy had spotted earlier was locater.

From their Percy could see inside the cabin. "I thought you said she was awake!" Lupa hissed at the boy, who turned ten different shades of grey and white in a matter of seconds.

"I-I-I―" He stuttered.

She snapped at him. "Stop stuttering and speak!"

"She started to float and her eyes were open and they had this crazy look in them and ―"

"Ok, good enough. Consciously she was awake but physically? Not so much." Next to him Dakota let out a squeal and then pointed inside the cabin. Bobby had risen a good foot off of the ground, hair flung in different directions, just like Percy remembered. Her eyes were open with a crazed look in them, and then they rolled into her head, showing white only.

"God Bobby," Percy murmured. The cabin seemed to shrivel up and the water suddenly appeared over her. He finished, "What happened to you?"

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><p>AN: Oh my god, this is interesting? Right?

Anyways, Read and Review. (I would really like your comments on this sickenss I invented)


	7. Chapter 6

**Ok, how about I make a deal with you guys. **

**If I can get five reviews for this chapter, I'll update it on a Wednesday (three days earlier.) **

**I'm not sure if this will work, but I'm hoping to get more reviews. **

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><p><em>"We were given two hands to hold, two legs to walk, two eyes to see, and two ears to listen, but why one heart? Because the other one was given to someone for us to find."<em>

"I'm coming with you," Scott said, walking beside Percy.

"Me too." On the other side of him, Rimini appeared, her brown hair dyed purple at the bottom. Both of them were holding a backpack of some sorts, as if they were actually going to go with him.

Percy shook his head. "Too risky," was the only explanation he was going to give them. He quickened his speed, hoping to be able to outpace them, but Rimini easily caught up and Scott (who was a good five inches shorter than him) had to jog to keep up. Percy, with his own backpack filled with items: clothes, riptide, food, a map, instructions, and description with what he was looking for, slung the other strap onto his shoulder and then turned to face his friends.

"Guys, I know you want to help ―"

"You know we want to help!" Scott blurted.

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Ok . . . I know you guys want to help, but it's way too risky. You heard what Lupa had said during the meeting, 'Percy, you might want to say your good-byes cause you're going on a suicide mission.'" Percy imitated.

"Yeah, well," Rimini began, "the last time I actually listened to Lupa was . . ."

"Yesterday," Percy mumbled.

She shot him a look. "Yeah well, Lupa can be pretty intimidating, and if I want to stay alive I _need _to keep it cool." Percy snorted.

They had reached the edge of the camp, clearly marked by a huge, ten foot tall wire barb fence that was covered in blood. Ribbons, paint, blood, and papers were intertwined in the metal, and beyond that was a forest of dead trees. The only way out (other than climbing the fence) was a metal door in the center of the fence with a huge lock on it. Percy took out the key Lupa had given to him.

"You know you guys don't have to do this." He said, started to wonder if Lupa had been right. Right now, the outside world did look pretty intimidating, considering he didn't remember anything about it.

"Lupa's wrong Percy," Scott whispered.

This time Rimini snorted, making Scott sigh in defeat.

"Ok, I admit," Scott said," I've only know her for what? Two days or so? And she's never been wrong. Maybe you just heard her wrong or something Percy."

_I wish,_ he thought. Because like it or not, Percy remembered this.

She had looked at him in the eye and just stared for a good ten seconds. Around him, no one dared to breath, and the outside noise of crickets could be heard chirping. The dead silence that hovered in the air seemed to cover them like a fog, and then all at once it was lifted with Lupa said:

"She's going to kill us all. I think it would be better if she was dead." Again the veil fell on the group and silence roared in Percy's ears. Someone had gasped, as if they couldn't believe that Lupa would even think of killing one of her students . . . because they had a sickness. Word had spread like fire about Bobby and everyone in First Legion knew about her "powers" or "flaws".

Scott, who was bright red for some reason, pushed his chair out making a loud _screech_ sound. It sounded like someone scraping against a chalkboard.

The "council" or as Lupa called it "leaders of each cabin" were huddled around a large, twenty by twenty-two foot table that had several holes and dents in it. Their chairs, an unpleasant, hard, wood that made their butts irritated sat six on each side with Lupa at the head. Twelve demigods sat uncomfortably, each uncertain if they should speak up on Bobby's behalf. I mean, it wasn't her fault that she was the one out of a hundred kids that got this Celestial's Disease.

Percy only knew about half of the kids sitting around the table, but for some reason they all knew him.

Percy remembered how when he had woken up, Bobby had spoken to him as if they were long time BFF's, and how startled she had been when she realized he didn't remember a "night before". He didn't remember challenging Dakota to some match and he certainly didn't remember every bodies names, which led to the fact that when people said "hi Percy!" his face turned red and he just mumbled "hi" back. Rimini, along with Dakota and Reyna were the only ones whose name actually rang a bell.

One of the demigods opposite Percy raised his hand.

"What James?" Lupa snapped.

James cleared his throat, much to Lupa's annoyance. "Well, you see, I don't think Bobby deserves to be killed. You see its ―"

Lupa laughed, cutting James off. For some reason, every time Lupa laughed at the mention of Bobby made his fists clench and he felt anger surge into him. What was this wolfs problem anyways? Was she that cold hearted and mean?"

"Oh dear, did I say kill?" A few people nodded. "I meant banished."

Lupa's eyes turned to stone. "Banished. I may not care much about this puny camp, but I will do everything to protect it. Even if it means sentencing one of my own campers to their death! She is weak, breaks the rules way to often, and is just so annoying and happy! The pure joy that radiates off her skin is uncomfortable and it makes me sick!" She snapped at the whole cabin. Percy flinched as spit flew out of Lupa's mouth.

This time Rimini hesitantly raised her hand. "She's been here ever since she was born and never caused a disturbance."

"I only took her in because I had promised her father," at those words she glared at Percy and then continued, "something. Hundreds of years ago, before my boys created Rome. It was a horrible promise, a promise I had swore on that damn river."

"Can't you do something less harsh?" Even though Percy knew that Reyna hated Bobby, for some reason he could tell that Reyna was uncomfortable with the fact of "killing Bobby." "I mean," she continued, "isn't there a cure or something? I mean, with modern medicine these days and Apollo being a phone call away, their must be a cure for this."

Lupa paused, as if she were considering telling them something. Then, with a shaky breath ― which was very, very rare for Lupa ― she said:

"There is a cure. But it is impossible to find."

"How . . . impossible," Rimini whispered.

Lupa's eyes looked down at the table. "Very."

"We can do it!"

"No."

At those words, the whole table fell silent again. The harshness in Lupa's words seemed to linger on each of the half-bloods, sending fear rippling down their spines. Percy felt that chill.

There was a dark secret behind that cure, and Percy was sure that Lupa was hiding it. But that didn't matter. Bobby was the only person who actually shown that she cared for him, after he had forgotten everything and everyone, she was the only one who had bothered to help. She had restored his memory bit by bit and then had helped him piece the rest together. She was his sister, and he was her brother.

Now it was his turn to put together her puzzle.

"I don't care," he said defiantly, "tell me what to do and I'll do it. I'll find the cure and help Bobby, even if I have to die trying." They were noble words, yes, but Percy was sure that even if he did die, no one would remember him to mourn him. He was just a shadow passing by and was on his way to death. To hell. He didn't know that with those words he spoke, he had just changed the demigod world in a way no one would ever be able to fix.

Lupa considered it for a second, but the defiance in Percy's eyes showed that he would not be swayed. "All right, but then you might want to say your good-byes cause you're going on a suicide mission."

She turned around signaling the meeting was over. "Oh, and Percy?" Everyone stopped to see what she would say. "Say 'hi' to Pluto for me when you see him. Or, when you're dead."

Those last words had literally scared Percy's confidence, and his determination had dwindled into the size of a tennis ball. Gone was his hope that Bobby would be saved from banishment ― were she certainly wouldn't last very long ― and with her the answers to his clouded past.

Wouldn't he do anything to save his dying sister? You didn't have to be a half-blood to realize that it was the right thing to do, I mean, even a mortal would probably want to save a loved one from their own sicknesses ― like cancer.

Percy frowned.

What was cancer? The word just popped into his mind like a newborn idea. Was this something from his past? His heart began to race, in realization that his memories might actually be coming back to him. Slowly, they would come, he knew. And somehow, Percy knew he was a very patient person.

They hadn't made it very far outside of the Dead Forest (or at least that was what Rimini said. Apparently a long time ago there was this war between two half-blood groups and there were a few battles near First Legion. The forest had been burnt, and then scarred for life, never to be green again.) For some odd reason Percy felt like one of those trees. They would never know a life before they were burnt, just like he would never remember a life before First Legion.

Percy looked at Scott, who was sitting off to the side and playing tic-tac-toe against himself in the mud. He watched as Scott drew another circle in the bottom left square and then a line through the circles. He pumped his fist in the air, triumph over an invisible opponent.

On the other side of camp, Rimini was leaning against a dead tree and mouthing something to herself. Her eyes were closed and her purple highlights stood out like a flower in a world of brown. Then, Percy realized that she was clutching the ground by her sides, and her hands were balled into fists. Rimini opened her eyes and stared at the sky, which was a perfect blue shade for such an imperfect day. Her purple eyes looked dead to the world.

This was his team. And Percy was starting to realize that if he did never go back to his old life ―back to the grey eyed girl and the rest of his friends' ― at least he wasn't stuck living in a school gym and begging for food.

His new life had provided him with enough friendship to last him a lifetime, and that was exactly was everyone was looking for . . . Right? He had a new family and new friends, and going back to his forgotten life wasn't at the top of his list.

I mean, what if his old life had been terrible and everyone there was cruel to him. Why would he want to go back to that when he had so much more here?

Percy, sitting next to a makeshift fire that Rimini had somehow managed to make, stared into the embers and searched. For the first few moments he wasn't really sure what he was searching for, because he knew that he wouldn't find it in the fire. Whatever he had been searching for: friends, love, a family . . . He had already found in First Legion. They had taken in him, the stray puppy (even though they seemed to know him since he was born), and brought him into their family. He didn't need the grey eyed girl anymore, because he had Bobby, Scott, Rimini, Reyna, Dakota, Nick, Terri, Lupa, and James to make up for his past.

But that didn't stop him from dreaming about her that night.

This time the dream took place next to a cliff where the grey eyed girl was sitting next to. A few feet and she would fall off, forgotten and lost. She patted the grass next to her and Percy took a seat.

Past the edge of the cliff Percy couldn't see anything. It was black, and foggy, and eerie, but his imagination didn't last very long and wasn't that creative. Then he thought what if the grey-eyed girl was a dream too? What if she was part of his imagination, and she wasn't part of his past? What if she wasn't real and there was no past to go to? What if that had all been in his mind, a trick or something?

Percy looked at his past and she smiled. But her cheeks were stained with tears and her hair was in bad shape. Her eyes, red and puffy, showed signs of past crying.

"You know, sometimes I think that you're just a dream Percy," she hesitantly said.

_Ditto,_ he thought, and longed to tell her all about his worries. He tried to move his lips but they wouldn't budge.

"Sometimes I wonder if you're even still alive. I mean everyone that I can possible think of: Thalia, Grover and the satyrs, every half-blood is looking ―longing for you. Where are you that none of us can find you?" Then she grabbed his shoulders and started to cry again. Percy wanted to wipe away her tears but his arm wouldn't move.

Then she kissed him.

Her arms wrapped around his neck and stayed there, while his wrapped around her waist (he had finally gotten them to move). She was so close, and she smelled like cherries mixed with wilderness and the ocean.

And Percy wanted this moment to never end, and even if this was only a dream, Percy wanted this moment to last. His worries about her being imagination drifted away and he knew that this was a fact.

And when she pulled away from him and buried her head in his chest, Percy longed to bring his lips to hers again, but as long as he was near her it was ok.

So they stayed like that for the remainder of his dream ― looking at the blackness over the cliff―until Rimini woke him up the next morning.

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><p>AN: Is it even possible to kiss in a dream?

Read and Review!


	8. Chapter 7

**So far for each chapter I've been getting about two reviews.**

**Lets try and change that number, so my goal for this chapter is _three_ reviews.**

**and the next chapter would be four and so on. We'll work our way up.**

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><p><em>"If ever word I said could make you laugh, I'd talk forever."<em>

Percy woke up with the scent of cherries and wilderness in his mind. Rimini was hovering above him, so she must have been the person to wake him up from ― from the most awesome dream ever. Her scent, smile, tears, lips . . . They were all still fresh in his mind and were going to stay there for the remainder of the day.

"Rimini?" He groggily said, still half asleep and half thinking about the kiss he had.

She looked relieved at first. "Sorry Percy. I mean, at first I was really hesitant to wake you up cause you were smiling like mad and that means you had a good dream . . . Right? But then Scott, whose very demanding for an eleven year old, demanded that I wake you up so we can get a move on in this wonderful morning." She paused. "Oh," she said, taking out a wrapped piece of cheese, "here's breakfast, sorry it's kind of moldy. The kitchen didn't want to give any of the fresh stuff over to us."

Percy nodded and effortlessly took the cheese Rimini had handed to him.

Taking a seat beside him Rimini opened her piece of cheese (which for some reason seemed a lot fresher than his) and sunk her teeth into it.

"Man," she said through bites, "I love cheese."

Scott, on the other side of the camp fire, made a face. "Nasty."

"What?"

"Cheese. It's nasty." He shuddered as if Swiss cheese gave him nightmares. "Taste like barf mixed in with pizza and broccoli."

Rimini stood up and in the process got some dirt on Percy's food. "Sorry," she mumbled to him and then turned back to look at Scoot. "You take that back." She demanded.

"What?" Scott asked innocently.

"You're disgraceful comment about cheese being like broccoli. You know what? You're face looks like broccoli."

"Yours looks like a contorted piece of clay." Scott retorted, and then sprinkled dirt onto his piece of cheese.

Rimini, standing next to Percy, took a step forward, but Percy grabbed her wrist. "He's not worth it," he said, pulling her down so she was sitting next to him on the floor. "Save your energy for when the monsters attack us and stuff."

She nodded, as if she understood, but Percy could tell that her mind was far away. At the words "monsters" Rimini had seemed to transport into another world.

Her purple eyes frightened him, and smart Scott didn't press the matters on his hatred of cheese. Rimini slumped down and then leaned against the dead tree. She pressed her head against it and said:

"I haven't been out of camp since I came here," she didn't bother to enlighten them anymore, and the hatred and sadness in her eyes told them not to press the matters.

Percy put a hand on her shoulder then gave her his half finished moldy cheese. "Take it." She nodded and then took a small nibble out of it.

They were making very good time, considering they had no idea where they were exactly supposed to go. Place with ice and snow? Yeah, that can be about . . . . A hundred different places.

Before they had left, Percy had tried to get Terri to enlighten him some more on the "prophecy" she had told him, but she claimed to have no memory of saying it.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Percy. Are you sure you're ok, I mean, I heard Bobby knocked you out good," were her exact words. Frustrated, Percy had left the cabin, slamming the beaten door into the frame. How was he supposed to save someone when the cure could be halfway around the world?

Even Lupa, who seemed and acted like she knew everything, offered few details and kept her sentences about it brief and hesitant.

"I know that it's somewhere far away," she had began, and Percy listened intently to her speak, "Maybe somewhere in Rome? I mean, that's where the Gods were worshipped, it would only make since or something. But then, the whole Olympian world had somehow shifted over to the west, which means it could be anywhere in the west."

"Wait―" Rimini said, bring Percy back to reality.

Percy looked over to her. Her purple eyes were staring at him.

"Never mind." She mumbled. "I just thought about something."

Scott walked over to them and sat down in front of them. His crossed his legs and then threw his cheese behind him and onto the dirt.

He leaned forward. "What did you think of?" He asked Rimini.

"It-it's just that," she turned to Percy, "nothing. I was just thinking about the prophecy and how it said to first head south to traitors bluff ― cause you see, traitors bluff was in Roman legend. It was where traitors and murders were taken." Rimini paused, and then continued, "It was based off a girl, and I can't remember her name. I think it started with a T or a B. Anyways, the girl was this daughter of this important war general during the Sabine War. She said she would betray her city if they gave her what was on their left arms."

"So why's it called traitors bluff?" Percy asked.

"It's not ―wait, just let me finish the story." Rimini continued, "You see, the soldiers were true to their words and gave the girl what was on their arm. Originally, the girl had wanted their golden bracelets, but the soldiers threw their shields at her, which is also on their left arm. The shields crushed her and she was killed."

Scott muttered something and Rimini told him to speak up. Scott said it again:

"That's a lame story."

Scoffing, Rimini said, "I'm not trying to fascinate you with bedtime stories ― I'm trying to figure out where we are supposed to go to."

"In Rome," Percy began, "What was the rocks name?"

"Tarpeian Ro―oh yeah, the girls name was Tarpeia ― Tarpeian Rock in Capitoline Hill or something."

"You think that's where were supposed to go?" Scott asked, looking at Percy. Obviously they had already decided a leader, even if their leader didn't feel very leader-ly. Rimini too looked at him which officially made him their leader, like it or not.

Percy sighed, stating that he gave in. "Then I guess we have to find out where this rock is."

The closest place where maps were sold was an old 7/11 place located a few miles down the road.

When they had walked in, Percy was sure that the guy behind the counter was going to reach over and dial 911, just because their clothes were worn and their hair flying all over the place. Well, Percy's and Scott's was ok, Rimini's was the one to behold.

Looking like they had just stepped out of hurricane Katrina, the trio made their way towards the counter. The man, a skinny, balding man with to many pieces of stubble to count looked up from his newspaper. He continued to chew on a wet and soggy cigarette that was hanging out of the side of his mouth.

"Bathrooms to the left, behind the chips," he mumbled and then looked back down, continuing to read.

Rimini stepped in front of the two boys and then banged her fist against the glass counter. The bald man looked up again, bored.

"Listen fatty," she said, "we need a map of the US and we need if fast!"

"What are you," he said, chewing on the cigarette. A part of it fell onto the man's lap which he quickly flicked away. "International spies or something? Why you want a map."

Rimini looked as if she were going to sock the man in the nose.

He sighed. "Girlfriend relax." Pointing over to a couple shelves near the front of the store he said, "Maps are over there. Five bucks each."

The trio made their way over there and quickly pulled out a map of the US. It was labeled with the state capitols and the states, but that was it.

"Dang it," Scott said, getting frustrated. "We need to find one with landmarks and stuff on it." He tore out some more maps and pulled them open, all of them leading to the same disappointment. By the time they had checked all the maps on the shelf (well, except for the random one of China); the group looked ready to give up.

"Hey!"

They all turned.

The cashier had spoken and was waving them over.

"What you youngsters need a map for?" He asked once they were huddled around the counter.

Rimini and Scott both looked at Percy as if waiting for him to reply. Great.

"Uh . . . we need to find out about a cliff to the south of here." Percy said, wondering if he had said the right things or if he should have lied.

"Well, I sure don't know any names of no cliffs," he said, spitting the cigarette onto the ground, much to Percy's disgust. "But I'm sure Bessie here knows a few cliffs."

They looked at each other, all thinking the same thing. How would a cow know the answers they need? Maybe this man was crazier than they thought.

"Kids, say 'ello' to Bessie!" the cashier said, pulling out an old laptop. It looked like something they would have had in the eighties, but the trio was glad to have found something to aid them. Percy stuck his hand out to get the laptop but the man pulled it back and shook his head.

"I want something in return for this ― money I prefer, but I'm willing to compromise."

Scott took out everything in his pockets which consisted of lint, a half eaten Snickers bar, a photograph (which he quickly stuffed back into his pocket), and a nickel. He handed the nickel over to the man who waved it away in disgust.

Rimini's pockets looked more promising, consisting of some food and five dollars. She also had a cell phone that she said was dead from lack of use.

Percy reached into his pockets and felt his pen (which he certainly wasn't going to hand over) and a pouch of tissue, which he offered to the man.

Shaking his head in disgust, the man said he'd take the nickel, five dollars, and the pack of tissue. Handing over the laptop, which was already turned on, Percy hit internet and searched up "cliffs in the US."

Just as they were about to enter a website, the door to the store opened. The man, clearly not used to having visitors, looked at the arrival to Percy's group.

"Uh-uh . . . I think your friend is here lads."

Rimini turned around.

Her eyes widened. "What the ―"

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><p>AN: Three reviews people! Three reviews!


	9. Chapter 8

**Thank you to the reviewers. **

**Today I have another goal: four reviewers. Let's see of we can do it.**

**For some reason I really like this quote . . . hope you like it too!**

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><p><em>"Sometimes we tend to be in despair when the person we care about leaves, but the truth is it's not our loss . . . it's theirs because they left the only person in the world who would never give up on them."<em>

Dyed black hair that reflected the light, black mascara and make-up covering her pale skin, black sweater over a white t-shirt . . . Percy only knew one person who dressed like that. She took a step forward, her black combat boots clicking on the 7/11 tile floor. She walked over to the fridge with drinks in it and took one out.

In the time that it had taken her to walk over to the drinks, the three half-bloods could only stare in disbelief and wonder.

"What the," Rimini began, "_heck_ are you doing here?" Her voice cracked at the end.

Scott shoved Bessie behind of him, covering the screen and its contents. Percy could see Scott's eyes widen at the sight of the Goth girl.

"What do you mean Rin?" The girl smirked. "You sound like you don't actually want me here."

Rimini clenched her fists so that her nails were digging into her skin. "I don't."

"And," she said, popping the lid of the soda pop, "why is that?"

"Cause you are a horrible person, Reyna."

Percy stepped in front of Rimini, coming between the two girls. Their eyes were staring at each other, their own hatred for each other as strong as the others. Reyna took another sip of her soda drink before setting it on a display table next to her. She cracked her knuckles and rolled her shoulders as if she was preparing for battle ― and in this case she was.

Reyna smiled.

"Hey!" Percy said, trying to draw their attention away from each other. They both turned to look at him, at Percy realized that that might have been a mistake.

Behind him he heard the guy behind the cashier move, obviously trying to prevent the same thing as he was. Percy looked at the man for help.

"Youngsters, there be no fightin' in this here store," he said, grabbing Bessie from behind Scott and shoving Percy to the door. Reluctantly, Scott followed and Rimini did too. Only Reyna still stood inside the store in the same stance she had before. The cashier stood in front of her (and he was a good five inches shorter too) and then looked her in the eye. "Listen missy," he hissed, "out."

Reyna stepped out of the store and right as she stepped on soil they heard the lock click. Inside the glass doors the man stood frightened, his keys fallen to the ground because of his shaking hands. Percy could read his name tag: I'm Phil and I'm here to help. Some help he turned out to be. They had now lost their only way of knowing where to go and have been kicked out of the only store in miles.

Worse, Rimini and Reyna were still glaring at each other ― and for no reason too. I mean, Percy could understand that there was some tension between the girls, but that was no reason to threaten to attack the other!

Reyna took a step closer to Rimini. "He's gone, and you didn't even try to help me." She screamed, her hatred being poured out into her words. "No one did! He disappeared and this ― this person," she pointed at Percy, "appeared in his place."

Rimini flexed her hands and then slowly, by her side, twirled them. Reyna didn't seem to notice.

"He's gone! Why is he gone?" Tears ran down Reyna's cheeks and spattered onto the sand beneath her. They were in a barren landscape (except for the store behind Reyna) and no one would hear the girls fight. Worse, no one would be able to come if one got hurt.

Reyna continued, obvious to Rimini's hands twirling.

"I loved him."

"How," Rimini said slowly, stopping her hand movements, "can you love someone, who never loved you back? I mean ― look what he did to you when he left! You used to love brightness and colors, and . . . And you used to be different."

Scott pocked Percy and then pointed to Reyna's shoes. Slowly, grass was creeping onto her shoes and around them, and soon it would make its way up her legs until it surrounded her whole body. Reyna would be a prisoner of the grass.

"Rimini," Percy said, taking a step forward, "stop."

Reyna tried to take a step forward but couldn't. She just realized that her feet were trapped in grass. She screamed in frustration, a load, antagonizing scream that seemed to break Percy's heart. He wanted to attack Rimini and break Reyna out.

But Scott grabbed Percy's arm before he could move and shook his head. Obviously he knew more about the girls than he did.

But then― Scott was gone. The hand had slipped from his arm and Scott had disappeared. Percy looked around, but couldn't find him. What the . . .

"Scott―" Suddenly he saw him. Or more like . . . Sensed where Scott was. He had grabbed Rimini and then pulled her away from Reyna so that she was standing next to Percy. Then, in a matter of seconds, he ran back over to Reyna and snapped the grass from around her ― it had made its way to her thighs. Percy blinked and then Scott was standing next to him again. "What the―"

But they had more pressing matters at hand. Reyna had just realized what had happened and that her target had magically moved positions. Percy stood in front of Rimini, not protecting her from Reyna, but protecting Reyna from Rimini.

"I don't know," Percy said, "what the deal is with you two." He turned around to face Rimini. "You have no excuse to attack Reyna like that when she hadn't done anything to you ― yet." He threw in yet for good measures and then turned to Reyna. "You, why are you here?"

Reyna smirked and then brushed the dust and dirt off herself. "I'm here because I want to join your sad, pathetic, group."

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><p><em>AN: This chapter was a little short and maybe a little boring. _

_I promise to make the next one better:) Reyna's gonna be in it!_

_So four reviewers today. Four. _

_Read and Review!_


	10. Chapter 9

**New chapter! Yeah!**

**Hey, I was just wondering if I wrote a book about Sadie/Anubis *me punching Walt in the face* would people read it? Would you people read it? Just a question, because I've been reading Throne of Fire and I can't believe (the nerve of some people!) that Rick Riodran would make Sadie like Walt. And then he adds this whole curse on him and is all like he's dying! Oh know! What should we do?**

**I'm very sorry if I had just offended people by my comment above, but I have calmed down by now. Nah, I'll finish the rant at the end of the chapter, cause I have many more things to say about this topic!**

**Now, where was I?**

**I can't remember. I must have killed half my brain cells (just kidding!) in the comments above.**

**Read and Review!**

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><p>"<em>No matter how bright the sun, or how clear the air . . . No matter where I am or who I am with . . . Everything is tinged with the absence of you."<em>

"How did you do that thing?"

Scott scrunched his eyebrows together. "What thing?"

"You know," Percy elaborated, "the one where you disappeared and all of a sudden you were moving super fast."

He shrugged. "I don't know. I don't really have to think about it when I do it."

The twelve year old boy looked uncomfortable and began to drift away from Percy. His lanky black hair reflected the suns harsh rays. Scott's hands were in his pockets and his shoulders were hunched forward so he appeared to be smaller than he really was.

Behind him, Reyna and Rimini stood at least ten feet apart, only the sound of leaves rustling and crunching beneath their feet could be heard.

They were going to a cliff in Hawaii, or at least that was what Scott had said. Before they had had Betsy so roughly taken away from them Scott had found a map of all the cliffs in the U.S. Few of them were to the south of San Francisco. The only one that was literally south to them was the one in Hawaii, but Scott didn't have time to catch the name of it.

Rimini skipped forward so she was standing next to Percy. At first, she didn't say anything, but with an uncomfortable look in her eye she said:

"So what were you and Scott talking about?"

This time Percy shrugged. "Remember when you got mad and Reyna and you were wrapping grass around her legs?" Rimini nodded. "Well Scott did this cool thing where he started moving really fast and then he appeared to be cutting the grass off."

"So what does that have to do with anything?"

"I was asking Scott how he did that."

Rimini paused. "Steroids?"

That didn't sound correct. "I don't know. And Scott wouldn't tell me what he did," he added.

Behind him he heard Reyna say, "You guys are stupider than I expected."

Rimini turned around. Her hands were clenched in fists and her purple eyes literally turned red with anger. She pointed at Reyna and said, "You shouldn't even be here. Come on Percy," she said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him forward. "Scott," she called, "we're leaving. Move that butt of yours."

Behind him, Percy could see Scott obeying and dragging his shoes forward. He was kicking up dust and leaves as he walked.

Reyna walked up to Scott and wrapped her arm around his shoulders. "Do you want to know how you moved that fast?" She asked him. Scott nodded his head slowly, but then looked up at Percy. He seemed to be waiting for Percy's approval.

"Go ahead Scott," he said. "If you really want to know you can talk to her."

Beside him he heard Rimini mumble something and then she dropped his wrist.

"What?" He whispered to her.

"Witch."

At first he thought she was talking to him, but then he could see her staring at Reyna. It's like she's holding Scott captive and there was nothing we could do to help him before she boils him in her soup.

"Well," Reyna began. "You have a power. You're a son of Mercury and Mercury is like a messenger God. You can just move really, really fast. It's the only obvious reason Lupa let you in at this age. She loves," She stretched out the word "love." "Lupa loves kids with powers. Over half of the camp has them."

Reyna nodded towards Rimini. "Rimini there has powers. You have powers. Jason," she hesitated, "Jason has powers." She finished.

"Why?" Percy was shocked to hear his voice. Beside him, Rimini glared at him in betrayal. "Why does she want kids with power?"

Reyna shook her head as if the answer was obvious. "Because First Legion is going to go to war soon, and when we enter way, Lupa doesn't want to lose."

The campfire was in the middle of the circle. On one side of it Reyna and Scott were sound asleep. On the other, Rimini and Percy lied in their sleeping bags still wide awake. Their eyes had bags underneath them and yawns were inevitable, but as hard as they tried they couldn't fall asleep.

Percy rolled around and felt the hard rocks underneath him. Why had he let Reyna and Scott get the grassy side? He wondered.

As if speaking his mind, at that moment Rimini hissed to him, "Why'd you let Reyna and Scott get the grassy patch?"

Percy sat up, thankful for a distraction. If sleep wasn't going to come, the most he could do was use his time wisely.

"I mean, I feel like I'm sleeping on nails, and then there are worms crawling on the nails!" She sighed.

"Yeah," Percy said. "And then someone just lit those nails on fire."

For a while they just stared at the orange glow from the fire. The smoke was drifting upwards to the stars and Percy looked up. There, almost directly above him, was the constellation of a Hunter.

Gears began to turn in his mind. He saw . . . A God with tears in her eyes. In her lap was a girl with spiky hair. Her side was drenched in blood and she had purple bruises around her body. Percy watched as her chest rose slowly and then fell, as if there was a battle raging inside of her: a battle to stay alive. Percy looked around. There was a girl with raven black hair who also was crying and a girl . . . the grey eyed girl.

Suddenly his eyes began to sting. He blinked, trying to get his tears to wash away the pain.

Someone laughed beside him. Rimini. "Why would you look directly into the smoke?" She asked playfully.

Percy lied down onto his sleeping bag only to once again feel the rocks underneath him. He continued to blink, trying to get the stinging in his eyes to calm. "I don't," he continued to blink, "I don't know. I was looking at the constellation of a hunter and . . . I had this vision.

Through his blurry vision Percy say Rimini look up at the sky. "Oh yeah, there she is." She whispered. "She's beautiful, isn't she?"

Percy nodded and then told Rimini about his "dream" or "vision". She listened to whole time, not a muscle in her body twitching. The only thing he didn't mention was seeing the grey eyed girl with them. His dreams, he thought, were his own personal life.

"Didn't you say something about not remembering anything?" She asked. Percy nodded. "That's so weird because I can remember hundreds of memories of you. Like ― when you jumped into the lake and swam to the other side where the nymphs attacked you with acorns. And when you told Dakota that her nose looked like a pumpkin. I thought she would surly beat you up that time!

"But those aren't real . . . are they?" She finished, the laughter in her eyes gone.

Percy didn't know what those were. But he did know that he didn't remember any of that. "I don't remember any of those."

"Oh," Rimini said, defeated. Trying to change the conversation she said, "So what do you think your visions about that God is about?"

They both looked up at the sky. The hunter seemed to be mocking them, more at Percy for his stupidity to remember why she was so important. The Hunter probably knew more about him than he did himself! How outrageous was that?

"I think that that girl, the one dying, is the Hunter." Percy said softly. He didn't know how or why he thought that, it just seemed like the right thing to say to Rimini ― and to himself.

Rimini didn't question his claim. Across the campfire, loud snoring erupted. They both laughed at the sight of either Reyna or Scott snoring like a pig.

"Why do you hate Reyna so much?" He asked quickly. Rimini was still in a good mood, so he assumed she wouldn't beat him up for asking. "I mean, I heart from Bobby you guys used to be best friends."

For a long time no one spoke. Finally, Rimini answered. "Things happen," she turned to look Percy in the eye. "Reyna fell apart when Jason disappeared. Nothing was the same anymore, nothing in the whole camp. Everyone knew that Jason was our leader, and without a leader we were nothing. But no one tried to look for him."

Percy watched as Rimini began to draw circles in the dirt below them. "Reyna cared though. She cared so much that she left the camp to try and find him."

"I take it she didn't find him?" Percy asked.

Rimini shook her head. "I don't want to talk about this anymore." Laying her head on the sleeping bag, Rimini squeezed her eyes shut as if trying to make everything disappear. But then when she opened her eyes, Percy could see the disappointment lingering on them. "It's a sad and scary story. I don't want to give you nightmares right before you fall asleep in this dark woods."

Percy grinned. "If I fall asleep. Cause last time I checked, we had gotten the side with nails and worms to sleep on."

"And fire," Rimini added.

"What?"

"You said that it felt like the nails and worms had been lit on fire by someone. Remember? When I was describing the ground to you?"

Percy nodded. Maybe he was loosing his memory or something, because he didn't remember saying that. He yawned. "I guess so. Did I really say that?"

Rimini nodded. "Good night."

"Don't let the bed bugs bite."

Slowly his eye lids started to get heavier and heavier until he couldn't keep them open anymore. His body relaxed and his heart beat slowed until he could feel himself slipping away from the world. And right on the verge of sleep he heard someone scream:

"Holy cow there's a worm in my sleeping bag!" That voice screamed at the top of their lungs and then he heard something rustle and then fly into the nearby tree. But he was already asleep by then.

Percy woke up to the smell of hamburgers and fries. When he opened his eyes, he was surprised to find that the sun was almost fully in the sky and the clouds had rolled away so blue skies could be seen. He put his hand over his eyes to shade them from the harsh light.

He turned to Rimini, but her sleeping bag was empty. Then he looked across the campfire (which had died out overnight) and found that Scott and Reyna's were empty too. Monsters! He thought, and quickly sat up.

Something fell from the top of his sleeping bag and onto the ground. It was a McDonald's bag, and the fries were quickly spilling out of the bag. Percy picked up the bag and looked inside.

There was a hamburger and a small bag of fries. The paper was soggy from the oil but the fries were still warm. He plopped one into his mouth and tried to savor the taste. How long ago has it been since he'd eaten a fry? Percy tried to think. He didn't have any French fries in First Legion . . . so it could have been days or years ago and he wouldn't have remembered.

Percy sighed, sat down and un-wrapped his hamburger. It was a plain hamburger with only a meat and the bun.

"I hope you like that," he heard from behind him. Reyna walked up beside him and leaned against a nearby tree. "I take it you don't like pickles," Percy made a face which made Reyna laugh. "I know," she said, "no one likes pickles."

"No, this is fine," Percy said, taking another bite of his breakfast. "Where did you get this?"

"Chew and swallow and then you can talk." Percy swallowed his breakfast and asked again.

Reyna pointed to someplace to his left and said there was a small city nearby with a McDonald's. "Rimini and Scott stayed there to find out how far San Francisco is from here. Rimini's trying to see if we can rent a car or anything there." She rolled her eyes as if stating the obvious.

"Well," Percy said in between bites, "Thanks for the food."

Again Reyna laughed. "You should thank Scott. Said he could smell the food from out campsite and led us right to its front doors."

When Percy had finished he tossed the wrappers into the paper McDonald's bag and followed Reyna as she led him towards the town. Indeed, it was a very small town, built like a checkerboard with a small community center in the center. Near the outskirts there was a McDonald's that was quickly filling with workers and farmers.

"You're not going to see any businessmen around here," Reyna said, staring at some farmers in worn overalls, "only hillbilly's."

"I thought Hillbilly's lived in the hills."

Reyna shrugged. "The name just sounds cooler than farmers."

They continued to make their way deeper into the heart of the McDonalds where Rimini and Scott were sitting down staring at a map. Percy took a seat next to Scott while Reyna continued to stand. Rimini and Reyna weren't going to be best friends over night, Percy noticed.

Scott continued to point at places on the map and Rimini's eyes followed his fingers. Percy and Reyna tried to follow along, but they soon got lost. Defeated, Percy turned his eyes to look at their destination: Hawaii.

Suddenly the map crunched up in front of him and Scott and Rimini stood up.

"Wait―" Percy said, confused. "What are we doing? Where are we going?"

Scott started to make his way to the door with Reyna and Rimini behind him (They were still standing at least a good five feet away from each other). Scott turned around.

"I'll tell you on the road Percy, we don't have time to waste!" He called, and Percy reluctantly followed.

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><p><em>AN: I do believe that Sadie and Anubis are ―belong ― with each other . . . don't you?_

_So I think I will declare my side on this stupid love triangle (there really is no triangle silly, it's only a line. A line connecting Anubis and Sadie! Duh!) That Rick Riodran probably created to give the story more publicity. (Oh look! Another book with a love triangle! Let's go read that one!)_

_But really . . . If Sadie ends up with *shivers and then throws the book, Throne of Fire, at the wall* . . . . . sigh . . . *come on, you can say it* . . . . Walt *gasps! Shivers. Covers eyes in horror and then leaves screaming the room* . . . . I'm so going gather all the books in the series (except the first one, because Walt didn't exist in that one yet) and burn them!_

_You know, probably not. I probably won't burn anything. _

_I'm probably not even supposed to be ranting on my story . . . but now you guys know how I feel._

_Anubis/Sadie! *everyone cheers and chants* How do we feel about Sadie and Walt the loser? *boos, hisses, people stomping on the poor dude with a curse on him*_

_Read and Review!_


	11. Chapter 10

**Ok, so I've started another story called Tales of a God and a Godling (for the Kane Chronicles) and I would really appreciate it if you guys can check it out.**

**Read and Review!**

* * *

><p>"<em>You'll always be my hero, even if you've lost your mind." – Rhianna, Love the Way You Lie<em>

Percy was ashamed to say that the first place they went to when they reached San Francisco was the bathroom in one of the department stores. But really, the blue sign with the two people and said: bathrooms on it looked really tempting and without a word the boys went to their bathroom and the girls to theirs.

And then, even worse, they realized that the bathroom was located right next to a candy apple place and they took out their rolls of cash to buys some.

Now, finally back on task, the group wandered about searching for a place to rent a car.

"Wouldn't it be by the airport?" Rimini said, trying to read the map they had gotten of the city. "We can take a cable car there and then drive to Hawaii."

Reyna grabbed at the map, nearly tearing it in two. "Stupid, the airport should be somewhere around here. Let me look at the book."

Rimini grabbed at the map. "Let me look! You guys did put me in charge of finding the car place, and I will finish the job." She declared.

"Just make sure we're still alive by that time," Rimini mumbled.

Scott and Percy, walking behind the fighting girls, didn't even bother to stop their ranting. A few times before, Percy had tried to butt in, which resulted in more screaming, this time directed at him. Scott, the smart one, stayed a good ten feet behind them at all times, just in case things started to fly (which had happened a couple times. You have no idea how painful barrettes and purses are when they fly.)

"I think I found it!" Rimini declared.

Reyna grabbed the map back and looked at where Rimini was pointing. She sighed. "That's a toy store."

Rimini leaned forward and squinted her eyes to try and make out the tiny words on the map. "Oh."

Right then Percy realized that Scott was no longer next to him. Turning around, Percy could see that Scott was talking to a lady. "Hey guys, stop for a second!" He called to the girls and then joined up with Scott.

The lady was average all over. Average height, average brown hair the color of mud and other stuff you can find in toilets, brown eyes that looked old and sad, a plain green dress with a black belt around her waist. But something in her voice seemed magical and it made Percy want to listen.

"Toy store?" She asked.

Scott shook his head. "Were looking for a car rental place or an airport. Do you know where we can find these?"

"Airport," she replied and pointed to the left. "Find these." Then she nodded.

Rimini appeared behind Percy. "What's wrong with her sentences?" She whispered.

Percy shrugged. Who cared if she had some disorder or something? As long as she could lead them to the airport he was fine with her.

Then the strange lady took out a piece of paper and a pencil and began to write something. Her handwriting looked like it had been typed and the paper soon was covered with words.

Scott turned his head and tried to read the writing. "I . . . I'm Echo. I can ― I can only . . . what's that word? Oh wait . . . say . . . words that have already been spoken." He finished triumphantly and then looked up to meet her gaze.

"Is that right? You can only repeat words that have already been spoken?" The woman ― Echo ― nodded happily. Percy could see her saying "Finally someone who understands!"

Reyna snapped her fingers. "No wonder her name is Echo, cause, you know, she echoes what she hears!"

The four ― Rimini, Percy, Scott, and Echo ― stared at her in disbelief.

"Don't worry," Rimini declared, "she's always this stupid." Echo nodded her head in agreement.

Percy assumed that if they weren't on a quest to save Bobby's life Reyna would have smacked Rimini in the head, burnt her dyed hair to a crisp, and then flattened her with a rolling pin. But to save them the time and horror, Reyna only stomped on her foot ― harder than a small love tap. It was a stomp that symbolized the hatred that burned between the two. Who knew a stomp could mean so much?

Reyna glared at Rimini. "If ―"

"Airport." Echo said, pointing towards their left, which happened to be a Pet Store. "Airport."

Percy tried to decipher what Echo was saying, and trust me, it wasn't very hard. But for others, it seemed to be the challenge of a life time, worthy to be on Jeopardy.

"Are you saying that the airport is located in a Toy Store?" Reyna said hesitantly, peering into the windows. "Maybe there's like a car magically hidden in one of those teddy bears!"

Echo sighed as If she had just come upon the stupidest people in the world. And when she smiled, Percy realized that her teeth were not so average: a blazing white color.

Rimini took a step back and read the sign above the shop. "No Reyna," she said sarcastically, "Toddle Tops Toys might be the name of the airline were supposed to take to Hawaii! Let's go in and ask them if they have any toy airplanes!"

From the corner of his eye Percy could see Echo scrawling something on her notepad and then showing it to Scott.

"No," he whispered back. "I don't think she's always this stupid. Maybe she's just mad at Rimini and giving her a hard time or something."

Echo wrote her reply.

Scott stared at Reyna as if he were trying to see through her. He whispered back, "I think the black hair is dyed, but I don't think she's a blonde."

Echo nodded in confirmation and wrote something down.

"Men aren't stupid and lustful." He said, but Echo nodded her head gleefully. Scott looked down to see what she wrote. "I don't know anyone named Narcissus, why?"But Echo just shrugged and continued to watch the girls fight.

"No," Rimini demanded, "Echo meant that the airport is in the left direction, but not literally to the left!"

"Then why didn't she just say: 'the airport you seek will be in your left direction.' Hmm?"

Rimini slapped her forehead and it took all her effort not to strangle her not really best friend. "Her name," she said slowly, "is Echo. She can only Echo what people around her say . . . did you not pay attention in Myths and Legends class?"

"Oh yeah," Reyna said, catching on. "I remember she was the nymph who was cursed by Juno and then she fell for that dude, but the dude didn't even seem to notice her and when he said 'I love you' to himself, Echo repeated it but he didn't hear her!" Realization dawned on Reyna's face.

"Oh." She said.

Echo was busy scrawling on her notepad. Percy read over her shoulder._ The Gods are traitors to the innocent . . . _Echo paused, as if thinking of what to say. _They fight with each other, and when they are displeased they turn to the mortals for their entertainment. Juno cursed me for talking to long to her so I could let Jupiter escape! And now . . . I have awoken and I will have my revenge. _

Scott tried to object, but Echo had taken a knife from her pocket (or at least Percy thought it was a knife. It was sharp enough to be one) and flung it at Scott. Around them, people began to scream as the knife bounced off a wall and landed at a pedestrian's foot.

But then, like a boomerang, it flew back at Echo who skillfully caught it. Percy then could see that it was a wooden stick with a huge metal blade at its edges. Well, he thought, she was a nymph.

She flung it again at Scott, who was able to move out of the way with his speed. Around them, leaves began to rustle and fall towards them, but none of them were heavy enough to do much harm.

Grass erupted around Echo's feet but with a few stomps it was torn down and Echo was busy getting another wooden stick out of her pocket.

Bring it on, Percy thought. His vision was clearer and he could literally see everything in slow motion. Reyna was trying to get the mortals out of the area, but they were snapping pictures on their phones and screaming, "Terrorists!" Some tried to help Scott, but were quickly knocked out by a flying acorn or rock (don't ask where they came from).

Percy, finally realizing that he should do something, pulled riptide out of his pocket and took of the pens cap. A blade flashed out and reflected the suns light. The mortals, seeing the swords blade, started to run away.

Percy charged at Echo but she was ready for him. Bringing one of her wooden sticks up to deflect the blow, Percy could feel her muscle and grace as their blades clashed. Scott was standing about ten feet away from them, obviously untrained and had no idea what to do.

Percy drew his sword back and swung again, aiming for her abdomen and anything relatively close to that area, but instead he hit her arm and the blade struck bone. She had brought her arm up to stop the blow and with the other arm lunged her wooden stick at him.

Somewhere, Rimini was screaming for him to move and Reyna was just screaming in general. Somewhere, Scott was debating on whether to risk his life and help his friend or save his own skin. Somewhere, long time ago, Echo had been a happy nymph who could talk all day long without stopping.

And then blade hit its home and Percy felt fire in his stomach. Blood from her arm fell onto his hand made him dizzy and a gut retching flame flew to all sorts of his body. He let go of Riptide and stumbled back words, cursing himself in Greek for being so stupid.

Scott, who had finally made up his mind, had jumped onto Echo's back and was pulling out her hair at rapid speed. Soon, she looked like a dead cat that had lost all its fur to a fan and her eyes were wild and crazed.

Rimini somehow made Echo's wooden sticks into mud and then sunk to the ground and Reyna was still getting citizens out of the area. Percy desperately wished that he would fall unconscious, but he was still wide awake with terror. Blood rushed to his head and his vision grew dark and hazy with tears.

Someone had ran over to his side and was running their hand over his wound, analyzing it and deciding if he were close to death or not.

"You're going to be all right Percy," the voice said. It was oddly familiar, but for some reason Percy couldn't tell where he had heard it before. Someone in the background was screaming their lungs out, but that was the only sound coming from them. Sirens blared and someone called his name, but he couldn't tell anything apart. It was all one big jumble that was digging into his brain and mixing everything together.

And then . . . he saw someone. He had a dark tan, black hair, and the same color eyes as he did, only this person was muscular, and had this radiating light coming from him. _Percy, _the voice said in his mind, _you still have a long ways to go. Someone, back home, is counting on you to make it back home, and another is on deaths door, not by her own choice. _Percy could hear the voice, but the figures lips weren't moving. _You can choose, right now, if you want to leave this world and enter another . . . where you will surly be blessed as a hero for your past. So Percy . . . what would it be?_

And he hesitated, but then he realized that Bobby was counting on him, and if that grey eyed girl was too, and well, he surely didn't want to let her down.

Someone was saying his name over and over in the mortal world, but he couldn't really tell who. He didn't want to let that person down either for some reason.

But then the pain flew across him and he remembered that nothing but pain would come out of this.

_Choose Percy. _

_Choose._

God he hated decisions, but then he realized that it wasn't really a hard choice after all.

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><p>AN: Yes, Echo is real in Greek mythology.


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